Lane

INTRODUCTION

This case involves interpreting a provision of the California Code of Regulations pertaining to procedures used in the breath-alcohol analysis of persons suspected of driving under the influence of alcohol in violation of Vehicle Code sections 23152 or 23153. California Code of Regulations, title 17, section 1221.4, includes required procedures for determining the accuracy of instruments used in breath-alcohol testing. These procedures include a “periodic analysis of a reference sample of known alcohol concentration” (Cal. Code Regs., tit. 17, § 1221.4, subd. (a)(2)(A)) to be conducted in a specified manner. Subdivision (a)(2)(B) of California Code of Regulations, title 17, section 1221.4, provides that “[f]or the purposes of such determinations of accuracy, ‘periodic’ means either a period of time not exceeding 10 days or following the testing of every 150 subjects, whichever comes sooner.”

*74 In this case respondent Paul Allen Lane (Lane) underwent a breath-alcohol analysis less than five hours after the testing instrument, known as an “Alcotest 7410,” was determined to be accurate in an analysis of a “reference sample” done on January 2, 2010. Lane’s…